Imatges de pàgina
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III.

229. Let him at no time drop a tear; let him on CHAP. no account be angry; let him say nothing false; let him not touch the eatables with his foot; let 'him not even shake the dishes:

230. A tear sends the messes to restless ghosts; anger, to foes; falsehood, to dogs; contact with 'his foot, to demons; agitation, to sinners.

231. Whatever is agreeable to the Bráhmens, let ' him give without envy; and let him discourse on the attributes of GOD: such discourse is expected by the manes.

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232. At the obsequies to ancestors, he must let 'the Bráhmens hear passages from the Veda, from the codes of law, from moral tales, from heroick 6 poems, from the Puránas, and from theological texts.

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233. Himself being delighted, let him give delight 'to the Bráhmens, and invite them to eat of the provisions by little and little; attracting them often ' with the dressed rice and other eatables, and mentioning their good properties.

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234. To the son of his daughter, though a student in theology, let him carefully give food at the 'sráddha; offering him a blanket from Népàl as his seat, and sprinkling the ground with tila.

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235. Three things are held pure at such obsequies, 'the daughter's son, the Népal blanket, and the tila; ' and three things are praised in it by the wise, clean

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liness, freedom from wrath, and want of precipi'tate haste.

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236. Let all the dressed food be very hot; and let the Bráhmens eat it in silence; nor let them declare the qualities of the food, even though asked by the giver.

237. As long as the messes continue warm, as long as they eat in silence, as long as the qualities of the food are not declared by them, so long the manes feast on it.

238. What a Bráhmen eats with his head covered, 'what he eats with his face to the south, what he eats with sandals on his feet, the demons assuredly ' devour.

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239. Let not a Chandála, a town-boar, a cock, a dog, a woman in her courses, or an eunuch, see the Bráhmens eating :

240. That, which any one of them sees at the oblation to fire, at a solemn donation of cows and gold, at a repast given to Bráhmens, at holy rites to the gods, and at the obsequies to ancestors, produces not the intended fruit :

241. The boar destroys it by his smell; the cock, by the air of his wings; the dog, by the cast of a 'look; the man of the lowest class, by the touch.

242. If a lame man, or a man with one eye, or a man with a limb defective or redundant, be even

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a servant of the giver, him also let his master re- CHAP. move from the place.

243. Should another Bráhmen, or a mendicant, come to his house for food, let him, having obtained per'mission from the invited Bráhmens, entertain the stranger to the best of his power...

244. Having brought together all the sorts of food," as dressed rice and the like, and sprinkling them ' with water, let him place them before the Bráhmens, 'who have eaten; dropping some on the blades of cusa-grass, which have been spread on the ground.

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245. What remains in the dishes, and what has: 'been dropped on the blades of cusa, must be considered as the portion of deceased Bráhmens, not girt with the sacrificial thread, and of such as have de'serted unreasonably the women of their own tribe.

246. The residue, that has fallen on the ground ' at the sráddha to the manes, the wise have decided to be the share of all the servants, who are not 'crooked in their ways, nor lazy and ill-disposed.

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247. Before the obsequies to ancestors as far as the sixth degree, they must be performed to a Bráhmen recently deceased; but the performer of them must, in that case, give the sráddha without the ce

remony to the Gods, and offer only one round cake;

• and these obsequies for a single ancestor should be an

nually performed on the day of his death:

248. When, afterwards, the obsequies to ancestors

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as far as the sixth degree, inclusively of him, are performed according to law, then must the offering of cakes be made by the descendants in the manner 'before ordained for the monthly ceremonies.

249. THAT fool, who, having eating of the sráddha, I gives the residue of it to a man of the servile class, 'falls headlong down to the hell, named Cálasútra.

250. Should the eater of a sráddha enter, on the same day, the bed of a seducing woman, his ances'tors would sleep for that month on her excrement.

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251. HAVING, by the word swaditam, asked the Bráhmens if they have eaten well, let him give them, being satisfied, water for an ablution, and courteously say to them: "Rest either at home or here." 252. Then let the Bráhmens address him, saying swadhá; for in all ceremonies relating to deceased ' ancestors, the word swadhá is the highest benison.

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253. After that, let him inform those, who have eaten, of the food which remains; and, being in'structed by the Bráhmens, let him dispose of it, as they may direct.

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254. At the close of the sráddha to his ancestors, he must ask, if the Bráhmens are satisfied, by the ' word swadita; after that for his family, by the word "susruta; after that for his own advancement, by the word sampanna; after that, which has been offered 'to the gods, by the word ruchita.

255. The

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255.

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The afternoon, the cusa-grass, the cleansing CHAP. ' of the ground, the tilas, the liberal gifts of food, the due preparation for the repast, and the company

' of most exalted Bráhmens, are true riches in the obsequies to ancestors.

256. The blades of cusa, the holy texts, the fore6 noon, all the oblations, which will presently be enumerated, and the purification before mentioned, are to be considered as wealth in the sráddha to the gods; 257. Such wild grains as are eaten by hermits, milk, the juice of the moon-plant, meat untainted, and salt unprepared by art, are held things fit, in their own nature, for the last mentioned offering.

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258. Having dismissed the invited Bráhmens, keep-
ing his mind attentive, and his speech suppressed,
let him, after an ablution, look toward the south,
and ask these blessings of the Pitris:

· 259...
"May generous givers abound in our house!
may the scriptures be studied, and progeny increase,
in it may faith never depart from us! and may we
have much to bestow on the needy!"

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260. Thus having ended the sráddha, let him cause a cow, a priest, a kid, or the fire, to devour what remains of the cakes; or let him cast them into the 'waters.

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261. Some make the offering of the round cakes after the repast of the Bráhmens; some cause the · birds

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